FH: So...yeah. Writing another fanfiction. "But why won't you update the other ones? Espcecially A Feudal Inu Tail?" Well guys, I have no muse for them at the moment. -blank face- I have been through some very trying times in the past 5 years guys...I have been beaten to within an inch of my life, I have been choked out, I have had my life threatened more times than I can count, I have had knives thrown at me, I have all all of my worldly possessions destroyed, I have watched as my mother and brother were abused, I have been told that I am worthless, I have been tortured, I have been sexually abused, and I have been on the streets more times than I can count; all while I was still in highschool for the most part. I will not try and make you understand the pain I have been through, but I am trying very hard to make my life better...Sometimes it seems all for naught. The man who caused this pain lies in wait even now; he is on the same island I live on now. We (my mother and I) are trying to desperately save money to go home; all while living in a tent. I have no muse for stories right now that were in essence, destroyed by this very man. I promise I will continue them...But not now. Now...I am trying to get past what I lived through, and there are some days I just can't help it. Please bear with me here. This is what I want to focus on for now. Thank you all; I have so many wonderful readers and reviewers, and I can't thank you all enough.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin; if I did, this show/manga would have been done MUCH more different to what it is now, and I would not have sold my rights to idiots so they can make such fake and crappy OVAs (not counting Trust & Betrayal).

Song: Zack Hemsey-The Way /watch?v=NeqMbWWwQ5o (Recommended To Listen To While Reading) Just go to youtube and paste that on the end of the URL. Please read lyrics in video decription. And repeat as you read.

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS GORE, HARSH LANGUAGE, AND GRAPHIC SCENES! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! THAT IS WHY THIS STORY IS RATED M!

…...Prologue: Vengeance Exacted...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~June 21st, 1868; 15 Years Into The Bakumatsu~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crickets filled the late summer night air as the full moon shone brightly down on the sleepy city of Edo. No one noticed a dark figure slink along the walls of nearby homes and buildings. Eventually, the figure came to a stop in front of a home that was larger than the rest, and surrounded by a wall higher than most. The man peered at the name on the front of the gate; it read "Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu: Home Of The Kamiyas". The man dressed in a black gi and black hakama smirked.

"This is the place," he whispered gleefully, "Now my revenge is at hand!"

The man quickly glanced down both sides of the street, and not seeing anyone, vaulted over the gate and into the yard of the dojo. It looked like any other family dojo and home; nothing at all to make it stand out in particular. But this man was here for a reason. His vengeance will be exacted on the man who had slain his family and had failed in slaying him. Now, he would make the man he hated to the depths of his soul suffer. As the man in black slowly walked through the yard and made his way to the engawa, he thought back to how he came to be here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback: 5 Months Prior~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were in their home; doing their usual business around the home. His wife and mother were doing laundry in the yard, conversing over idle things that women usually spoke of. His father and uncle were in the meeting room; doing a meeting over battle plans for the Shinsengumi. They were to make their reports to the leader of their division tomorrow; their devision being the 1st Division, and their leader being his grandfather Okita Souji. His name was Okita Masaru. He was well versed in kenjutsu, and would be following his father, uncle, and grandfather into this war. He was now 16, and so, after he achieved his senpuku last week, his granfather deemed him ready to join him in battle. Masaru sat outside the meeting room on the engawa, and enjoyed the slowly warming spring air.

Suddenly, a loud bang came from the front gate of their home, and as the dust cleared, a man stood in the midst of the dust. He wore a grey gi and white hakama, and his black hair was cut very short. The man had dark blue eyes, which were a tad unusual, and he was clean shaven. The man wore a standard katana at his waist, and he did not look disturbed to be there. Masaru's wife and mother screamed and ran into a room nearby, and peeked out as his father and uncle ran onto the engawa behind Masaru. Masaru stood as his uncle and father drew their katanas and stepped off of the engawa. Masaru was right behind them, drawing his own katana. The man began to slowly walk forward, and that is when his father shouted at the man.

"Who are you to invade my family's home? Why are you here?" he shouted at the unknown man. The man stopped walking and his piercing gaze looked Masaru's father dead in the eyes.

"I am the man sent to kill you and your despicable family. My name is Kamiya Koshijiro. Repent for your sins against humanity with your deaths by my blade," was all he said, before he disappeared into thin air. Masaru's mouth opened in shock, and suddenly he heard a scream of pain come from his father and watched, as if in slow motion, his father be slashed from shoulder to hip in a wide arc that sprayed blood as if it was rain. Before Masaru even had time to blink, his uncle's head flew from his shoulders in a spray of blood as his head was sent rolling across the yard. Masaru was shocked and stunned. Suddenly, the man was there again, standing over the bodies of his father and uncle, and the man turned to him.

"I am saddened that you were born to such a sinful family, but my orders are very clear; you and your whole family must die. I pray that your souls finds solace in your deaths," Koshijiro stated solemnly. The next thing Masaru knew, he felt a sharp stabbing pain as his chest was split open. He fell, in slow motion it seemed, and he landed on his side, with his eyes facing the room his mother and wife were hiding in. He watched, as his vision started to fade to black, as the man known as Kamiya Koshijiro turned away from him and stepped into the room his wife and mother were hiding. He heard their sobs, their pleas for mercy, and then he heard their screams and their cries ceased instantly with the sound of tearing flesh. He watched as Kamiya walked back out of the room, and then slashed his katana to the side at an angle, removing the blood there in one fell swipe in a chiburui movement. Not a drop of blood remained. As the man re-sheathed his katana, tears fell from Masaru's eyes as his vision faded to black. His life as he knew it ended that day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That day was the day an innocent boy died, and in his place he became a hate-filled man. Masaru had come to this place to exact vengeance on the man who had killed his family, and had almost killed him. He had been lucky; the wound was only a centimeter shallower than the cuts made to his family and wife. That is what had saved him. He remembered waking up in the nearby clinic, and having it all crash back to him. He had cried and sobbed so much that day that the local doctor had forced him to drink a sedative. When he woke again, he swore his revenge on the man who had murdered his family in cold blood. Once he was healed enough, he began training tirelessly. His plan was absolute. He would kill Kamiya Koshijiro's family, and then he would tell the man how his family had suffered before death, and then in the end, he would kill Kamiya Koshijiro. His revenge would be completed.

Masaru reached the engawa and stepped up on it; not taking off his zori. Why should he respect the home of the murderer of his family? He walked along the engawa silently, and as he reached the first room, he found what he had been searching for. Peering into a crack in the door, Masaru watched as a beautiful woman sat upon a futon, with a small child in her lap. The child appeared to be perhaps 6-7 years old, and was a little girl. The little girl had dark black hair with blue highlights, and dark blue eyes.

'Like his...,' Masaru sneered in his mind. He would end her life before she would live to pass on those disgusting traits. The woman though, had light blue eyes and pale blonde hair.

'A foreigner then,' Masaru thought in glee. Both females were wearing simple sleeping yukatas and it seemed the mother was reading a story to her child. The child read along inquisitively as the mother's soft voice echoed through the room. Masaru smirked. What better time to appear than as a demon from a story? Resolved, and bearing an evil glint in his eyes, Masaru snapped open the shoji door to the room in which both females resided. Both mother and child jumped in surprise, and when the mother saw an unknown young man in the doorway, she quickly stood and pushed the child behind her.

"Who are you? What do you want? Why are you in my home?," the woman demanded, as she grabbed a bokken from the floor nearby. The child peeked around her mother's kimono to stare at Masaru; only a hint of fear present. Masaru smirked. This would be much more enjoyable. He had hoped that they would fight him until the end. They would only prolong their suffering for him to recount for their husband and father when he went to kill him. He stepped into the room, almost lazily, before he answered.

"That is what my father asked when your husband killed him and my family. He also tried to kill me and failed. I have come to exact veangeance on the family of the man who killed mine," Masaru stated calmly, as he once again started walking towards the two females. The mother stepped back several steps before she whipped around to her daughter and pushed her firmly away from her.

"Kaoru, you must run! Mommy will try and stop this man; but you must run if you want to live!," the mother whispered urgently to her daughter. The little girl gasped and stared at her mother in shock and fear.

"But Mommy! Where do I go? I don't want to leave you with this bad man!," young Kaoru screamed frantically at her mother. Her mother glared down at the child before pushing her again, causing the child to almost stumble.

"Kaoru! I said GO! Mommy will handle this! Please, just RUN!," her mother screamed at Kaoru. Tears began to blur the child's vision as she sniffed. She then hugged her mother as tight as possible and whispered into her mother's ear.

"I love you Mommy," and then the child turned away and ran out the back door of the room at a dead run. The mother turned back to the young man in her doorway, and she saw the smirk on the man's face. She readied her bokken and stood firm in the path to her daughter.

'Kami-sama, please keep Kaoru safe,' she thought desperately. She gritted her teeth and scowled at the smirking man.

"What is so funny, you asshole?," the woman asked venomously, standing in a defensive stance with her bokken raised in front of her. The man smiled in a wide grin full of malice.

"Why, her running just made this game a hell of a lot more fun than it was before! Now it is a game of Hide-And-Seek instead of just Instant-Kill. I will enjoy making her suffer before she dies. But first, there's you to take care of...," Masaru stated, as he slowly drew his katana from its sheath. The sound of steel being drawn made the mother shiver in fear. But no matter how scared she was, she had to fight for her daughter; she had to live!

"I will not die easily, young man," the woman stated, before charging him,"Hiyah!" She dashed forward and tried to swipe her bokken across his head, when he suddenly vanished. The woman stared in confusion before she heard the sound of tearing flesh and felt a stabbing pain lance through her back. She fell forward, and felt blood begin to pool beneath her. She tried to use her bokken to rise, but felt her hair be grabbed roughly by a hand and twisted upwards, dragging her up with the hand. A strangled cry left her bloody lips as her hands automatically went to grip the hand fisted in her hair, simultaniously dropping her bokken as her eyes screwed shut in pain. A wild manic laugh sounded behind her as she tried deperately to remove the hand fisted in her hair. Suddenly, the hand holding her hair threw her against the wall, and she smacked against it with a sickening crack. She fell to the floor in a heap on her back and she began to see black at the edges of her vision.

And then, the man suddenly straddled her waist and held his katana to her neck.

"It is time to say goodbye to your life. I will take your daughter next, and then your evil murdering husband. I will not stop until your whole family is destroyed. Goodbye," Masaru stated coldly before he slit her throat. He watched with glee as the woman below him began to choke on her own blood and her body spasmed a few times before going completely still. Masaru smirked and slowly stood above her, before performing chiburui to remove most of the blood from his blade. He then pulled out a piece of cloth and wiped the rest of the blade clean. He was not able to remove all the blood with chiburui alone, like Kamiya Koshijiro; however, he was now a much more skilled swordsman. He smirked and then looked out the door the child disappeared through. It was time to play Hide-And-Seek.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Kaoru~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaoru ran blindly into the woods near her home, tears pouring down her cheeks and obstructing her vision. Somehow, she just knew that that was the last time she would ever see her mother alive. Sobs tore through her throat as she continued to run, stumbling every now and again over rocks, roots, and branches. Suddenly, Kaoru tripped and went sprawling into the dirt and rocks. A few scrapes appeared on her hands from the fall, and she began to shakily push herself up to her hands and knees. She had to keep going! For mother! For father! And as she finally stood up, she heard a branch break under someone's foot behind her. Whiping around, Kaoru came face to face with the man who had appeared in their home. He grinned sadisitcally as he stepped into the clearing and became bathed in moonlight. He was a handsome young man, around 15 or 16, and he had jet black hair that was cut short and spiked out to the sides. He wore a black gi and black hakama, and he wore a katana in his sash on his left hip. His eyes were a dark golden color; almost cat-like in their nature. He slowly began to walk to her. Kaoru glared through her tears and stood her ground. This man being here meant only one thing; he had defeated her mother in combat. Her mother was pretty good at kenjutsu, but Kaoru, even at her young age, was much better at it than her mother. Her father even called her a prodigy; but she never let it get to her head. She just wanted to live up to her father's teachings and become just as strong as him. The man laughed mockingly.

"You really think you can stand up to me? I think not little girl!," the man yelled in anger, before he drew his katana in one swift move, and Kaoru narrowly dodged to the right. He missed any vital areas, but he created a long, horizontal cut starting from an inch to the left of her nose, and it went straight back over her cheek and stopped about an inch from her ear. Kaoru winced and held her hand up to her now bleeding cheek, and it came away slick and red. But she had no time to dwell on it, as the man came for her again, even more angry that she had dodged the first blow. Kaoru tried to dodge to the left this time, but the man anticipated this and struck her in her right side, causing a rather deep wound to the area just above her right hip. Kaoru gasped at the pain and fell to her left side as both of her hands covered her wound in a vain attempt to stem the bleeding. The man grinned evilly before he made his way over to the slowly dying child in front of him. He stood above her with his katana resting lazily over his right shoulder as he brought his foot down on Kaoru's chest, effectively halting her breathing.

"I will enjoy telling your father as he dies that his spawn of a daughter, which carried his looks, died in the most painful way possible. Now meet your death peacefully!," he yelled, and with that, Masaru shoved his foot into her chest with even more power, causing Kaoru to gasp in pain before he quickly lifted his foot and kicked the child all the way across the clearing. She rolled several times before coming to a stop, her body limp. Kaoru ceased her breathing and held her breath. Perhaps if she played dead, this man would leave her alone, and she would live. She was rewarded as the man came over to her limp form before toeing her limp body, and seeing no breath from her, concluded that she was dead. She heard the swish of his katana as he performed chiburui and re-sheatehd his katana. Kaoru held her breathe until she could no longer hear his footsteps in the deep forest. When Kaoru finally took a breath, her breaths became labored and fast as she tried to regain lost oxygen. Her chest hurt immensely, so her sternum was most likely broken. The wound on her right side hurt the most though, and black started to fill her vision. She tried to rise to her feet before dropping down again when her legs would not hold her up. She curled up on her side as more tears leaked from her tightly closed eyes. Suddenly, there was a shadow over her, blocking out the moon's glow.

She opened her eyes weakly, thinking that it was that man, back to finish the job. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see instead a very large and tall man. He had to be one of the most handsomest men she had ever seen. He had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail gathered at the nape of his neck, and his bangs had an unruly, wild look to them. Two long strands of hair fell loose from the pony tail in front of his ears. His eyes were a dark grey, almost black. His clothes were the strangest clothing that Kaoru had ever seen. He wore a pair of thin blue hakama pants, that were tucked into a pair of European styled boots, and a matching blue short sleeved gi. Over that was the strangest and largest red and white cloak Kaoru had ever seen. The cloak had a pointed high collar on both sides and the cloak itself reached to his ankles. He had a shikomizue katana attached to his left hip, and he stared down at her intently. As the black started to fully envelope her, Kaoru heard him ask her a question.

"What is your name?," he asked sternly and forcefully. Kaoru could tell that this man was no joke. Her eyes fluttered as she struggled to reply.

"Kami...ya...K-Kao...ru...," she gasped out, before she fell into the blissful oblivion of unconsciousness.

The man sighed in exasperation and leaned down and scooped up the young 6 year old girl into his arms before walking off.

"And I only wanted to get some more sake...What a bother...," he stated, as he walked off into the night, the young injured girl unconscious in his arms.

…...End Of Prologue: Vengeance Exacted...

Glossary:

-Engawa: Refers to the typically wooden strip of flooring immediately before windows and storm shutters inside traditional Japanese rooms.

-Gi: Japanese Shirt garment usually worn with hakama pants

-Hakama: Loose trousers with many pleats in the front, forming part of Japanese formal dress.

-Yukata: A light cotton kimono.

-Kimono: A long, loose robe with wide sleeves and tied with a sash, originally worn as a formal garment in Japan and now also used elsewhere as a robe.

- Shikomizue Katana: It is the mounting of a sword blade in a walking cane. The last decade they have been popularized by movies (Zatoichi) and many anime series but they are very much part of Japanese sword history; in contradiction to the straight ninjato.

FH: Well, there you have it, the very first chapter in Senshi No Seishin. Directly translated, the title means "A Warrior's Spirit" in Japanese. I found it very fitting, considering I will be focusing on Kaoru for a majority of this fanfiction. I will be using what I find in canon, but things will be changed from the point she meets Kenshin and on. I want to bring out her full potiental, and I will enjoy fleshing her out more that her original creator ever did. Thanks for reading and I would enjoy any feedback or reviews! Ja ne!